A History of Modern Britain |
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| Title: | A History of Modern Britain |
| Author: | Andrew Marr |
| Publisher: | Pan |
| Type: | Book / Paperback |
| Publication Date: | 06 March, 2009 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0330511475 / 9780330511476 |
| List Price: | £8.99 |
| You Save: | £4.50 |
| Amazon Price: | £4.49 |
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This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon UK, from £3.00.
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
[ Unable to obtain editorial review or publisher's summary at present ]
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Customer Reviews:
• History In A Can
28 November, 2009
Doesn't deserve the "authoritative" accolade, but an enjoyable canter through modern British history, riddled with typos and other editor's failings, but with enough choice anecdotes to liven the story for the general reader.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Good, Entertaining Read - But Is There Political Bias?
08 November, 2009
I enjoyed this book, in the main. Marr's style is usually both entertaining and informative, and the breadth and scope of the book are impressive. There are times when you really "get the feel" of a period or episode.
But I think all authors and broadcasters on history should hide their biases, especially in books such as this one. Marr takes both Tory and Labour apart on occasion, but he spends far more time on Labour misdemeanours and shortcomings than Conservative ones. He demonises Wilson at length, but glosses breezily over the years of Tory sleaze under Thatcher and Major. And he has an obsession with Labour politicians having "no sense of fun" - as opposed, presumably, to Geoffrey Howe and Douglas Hurd?
And there is not a SINGLE mention of Jeffrey Archer. Maggie's right hand man for many years, the epitome of sleaze and dishonesty - and not one mention? Was Marr an overawed attendee of the Krug and shepherd's pie parties at Archer's journo-friendly bashes - in the years before Archer was outed for what he was?
- Amazon Customer Review
• Good Political History, Not So Comprehensive Socially
28 November, 2009
I really enjoyed this - the style was light without being frivolous and it gave a very good perspective, I thought, on the type of politics we voted for over the years. You really got a sense of the flow and charcters involved and the events thats sometimes blew them off course.
I did enjoy the brief diversions into the social aspects because they were interesting and because it broke up the political story. Politics may well shape the society we have but the feeling came across that that we are bloody minded enough to ignore what is good for us - or at least what we are told is good for us
What came out of the books is that our politicans did some very underhand things , for some very nasty motives and their persistant failure to deliver without convulsions in society may well have lead to the contempt now being shown for their expenses behaviour - because while it makes clear in this book sometimes McMillan was right 'events dear boy', leaders are expected to behave better
I also liked the upbeat notion at the end of the book that polictics will matter more as we try and tackle trans national problems like terrorism and the climate
But the bit that comes out the most was the fact we've come full circle from 1945 - the level of planning and central control of our lives seems to have returned to government and ancient freedoms like presumption of innoncence or freedom of speech are under threat as never before
In conclusion a good read , very good on the politics, lighter on the social side but painting a joined up picture of where the Britain of today came from - on balance a stroke of luck to be born in as Andrew Marr concludes ..
- Amazon Customer Review
• The Clue Is In The Title.
11 December, 2009
The majority of negative reviews appear to be based on the book being shallow i.e superficial, and a dislike of Marr's style. The second of these is a matter of personal opinion and cannot be overcome, we all like different writers and their various styles.
However, I believe that the first of these criticisms is based on a false premise.Namely, that it is meant to be a history (text)book, if it was meant to be one, then I would agree it fails, as Marr does have a selective bias and perspective on a few 'key events' during the span of history that this book covers.
However, it's aim as the title suggests is a 'History of Modern Britain'. In other words what shaped Britain today, what made us the people of Britain the way we are today.Marr has used this book to demonstrate what he believes were the defining moments that made Britain, and those of us in it, who and what we are today. This is evident from the end of his prologue, when he images people from 1947 looking aghast at us 'modern Britain's today, and asking (as ailens would) who are these people? Marr's response is profound: "We are you, what you chose to become".
Whether we like it or not we and our world are shaped not only by our own past, but that of many others. I suspect many readers dislike Marr as he tells it as it is. Not the rose tainted version we were spoon feed in school of how Great Britain once was. The truth is that amidst Britain's greatest triumphs, lie abject failures, moral as well as political. Few people realise how close Britain came to losing both world war's - especially the second, and how the country was nearly bankrupted in its Churchillian efforts to win at all costs, at a price we were still paying off until the late 1990's. Marr has touched a nerve. Some will hate it. As for me, I think it is a witty, insightful and prosaic book. One you will either love or loath. Personally, I recommend it, as I believe we need to learn the lessons of history. Sadly recent events seem to prove we keep repeating the same mistakes.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Minor Marrsterpiece
29 December, 2009
With this book, what you see is indeed what you get - a history of Britain from the end of the Second World War to the Blair years.
It is a brave, or foolhardy, person who takes on the unenviable task of interpreting modern history because it is difficult to get a proper perspective on the significance of events and their implications and increasingly more difficult the closer to the present you get.
Andrew Marr has, I think, made as good a stab at it as anyone could and he has done it in an entertaining and incisive style which evokes, perhaps not alto-gether deservedly, a sense of authority. There is no doubt that he has drawn excellent portraits of the major political players of the period and his analysis of political and economic events seems wonderfully insightful.
As a child of the sixties (I was a student in my early twenties in London in the mid to late sixties), I cannot say that his assessment of society at the time entirely rings true for me. He has not, I think, captured the mood of confidence which existed at the time and the almost universal belief that Harold Wilson's 'technological fix' would provide us with Pandora's Box. Nothing seemed impossible and the sky was the limit so long as we relied upon the power of human resourcefulness. There was therefore tremendously positive feelings that the future was rosy and things would just get better and better. In fact, when the bitter truth that this was not so came home to roost with a vengeance in the mid 70s, it was an extremely depressing time for us sixties hopefuls.
I feel I have gone on far too long about my little bit of nit-picking, because overall this book is an excellent read, interprets events superbly and with just the right amount of wicked and sceptical humour, and provides much enlightenment into modern times. Above all, it is a work of masterful scholarship.
I do not think that anybody could have done it better....
- Amazon Customer Review
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